Jour J - French AH Comics collection

[Yorel]

25th Tome is out. It's called Notre Dame de Londres. Strangely, this one actually focuses on the POD as it tells the story of the main character, who ended up taking a part in shaping the events of the world. This is rather unusual compared to the previous tomes: generally, Jour J seemed more interested about telling a story within an Alternate History context without bothering too much on the POD. As for the change brought in that tome, it's basically Louis VIII of France managing to win the throne of England in the OTL First Baron War.

Only skimmed through it but being skeptical about the quality of Jour J in general, I didn't enjoy it that much. The story did seem to have annoying clichés though: John Lackland seemed to be the caricature he is portrayed in history for example (which exagerates his flaws quite a bunch).

 

[Thomas27]

Bumping because i hope some one as the answer.

I was wondering if some of you can identify he characters on this page.
They are Nixon staff form D-Day Volume 5: Who killed the president (not sure if it's the good english title)

 

[Greg Grant]

I was wondering if some of you can identify he characters on this page.
They are Nixon staff form D-Day Volume 5: Who killed the president (not sure if it's the good english title)

I think they're all fictional, given that none fit into real roles.

For example, the Mustache Man from State Department would either be:
G. Gordon Liddy - a Nixon lacky and an owner of a mustache, but he had nothing to do with State department and even in this timeline would have been nothing but a guy who gets a cup of coffee for someone more important than him. Even in the land of lackeys, Liddy is the guy stuck in the broom closet, not planning World War 3.
Dean Acheson. He has a mustache and he was in the State Department. But this makes no sense politically, as he was a hardwired Democrat. There was no way he'd work for Nixon, or talk about the voters in such a way. However, he was accused of neglecting Asia in favor of Europe, so his disregarding China would be in (extreme) character.
The character, however, should be William P. Rogers, a non-entity put in place by Nixon to replace Kissinger at State. No mustache.

Bowtie Glasses Man is either supposed to be, based on his comments and actions:
John N. Mitchell - Nixon's Attorney General, who resigned when it got too hot. I read the comic, so his turn would be in keeping with what happens here, but he never had glasses or wore a bow tie.
John Ehrlichman - Nixon's right hand man and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs. Facially, it could be him. Then again the art is pretty unfocused in this comic, as J. Edgar Hoover looks nothing like J. Edgar Hoover earlier in the comic. Ehrlichman doesn't quite work because he never wore a bow tie or had glasses, but it'd make sense for this character to be him based on how he reacts to the actions in the comic.
Bowtie and glasses in this era however meant Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but he's a Democrat, like Dean. He wouldn't work for Nixon.

None of the military men resemble anyone I'd know. The receding hairline and attitude of the man in the last panel could be that of General Westmoreland - who in our timeline is the man who lost Vietnam. But the character wears an air force uniform. The Frank Miller smudged art style face of the man next to him is hard to decipher, but that man is wearing an army uniform, however. So if anyone was Westmoreland in that panel it'd be him.

I am guessing the artist just drew repulsive characters in general, without consulting bios or Google Images.

 

[Greg Grant]

2. Paris, Soviet sector.
December 1951 : In Paris' heart a serial killer threaten Cold War balance

6 June 1944. Normandy's landings failed. Offensive against Germany is launched in Provence, but Allies get bogged down near Lyon, leaving Red Army the opportunity to cross Rhine and to free Paris.
After Reich's capitulation, France is cut in half from the Seine and Paris is divided in two blocks. Spy wars will happen soon.

[2/5]
While not utterly bad, it have the reverse problems of the first one, without the reverse benefits. Rythm is irregular, and even when it's supposed to rush it's all very settled.
The overdramatisation (Paris looking more post-apocalyptic than occupied) doesn't help to forget a jury-rigged timeline.

You are being too kind. This comic was garbage. The plot made no sense. The characters were a mess. The sympathies were all over the place. And, forgive me for not quite cheering on a hero who rescues women from white slavery at tender teenage age and then sends them behind enemy lines to act as whores to bait SS into revealing secrets. Never mind the main female character who supervises the killing of the hero's source to lure him into Soviet Paris to help her uncover a bigger crime. And this comic is where I first experienced the knee-jerk anti-Americanism of the series.

5. Who killed the President?

November 22 1973 : America under shock after Dallas Assassination

Washington, 1965. The re-elected president begins his second mandate by a decisive land offensive on communist North-Vietmand. While that in America, contestationg grows and that the country slowly falls in dictatorship, French, volunteer in Vietnam, kills an officer. The 22 November 1973, he's in Dallas, in a bar's toilets. There, he takes a sniper rifle.

[1,5/5]
It's kind of bad, with some redeeming points. But the story is unconvincing, the timeline is unconcinving, and the whole point is unconvincing. The art is really what holds up there.

Flaming bag of horse poop. The art is, however, nice. And if you want to read a hot-take on the evils of Amerikkka, this is the comic. Racist terrible cops just chomping at the chain with Nixon finally letting them off the leash. Heroic Jane Fonda fleeing fascist America for the shores of politically sophisticated France. The only two remotely good guys in the story are Frenchmen. Oh yeah. This is the stuff knee-jerk dreams are made of.

6. Power to imagination?

1973 : 5 years after Mai 68 and the civil war, Paris lives anew

May 1968. Criminals stole 200 Millions of Francs from Banque de France. Five years later, after having disappeared before recieved his share, one of them comes back for it. But things changed : after the events, the civil war that followed and Paris' reconstruction, yesterdays accomplies are walking among the circles of power.

[5/5]
The first great book of the series.
It may ask to know some references on French politics and French movies but it works smoothly. Art is great, story makes the somewhat weird TL largely compensated, and critically, both serves each other perfectly.

I really wanna read this one.

8. Paris is still burning

1976 : After 5 years of civil war, UN reinforce his presence in France.

After the suspect death of De Gaulle during Mai 68 Revolution, civil war settle durably in France. 8 years later, Paris is a martyr city, a lawless zone where rival factions fight each others. This chaos is where new troops of UN land, accompanied by a war photograph whom presence isn't only due to journalism.

[3/5]
Same PoD than the sixth, but with a more dark outcome. It doesn't works as well : the McGuffin chase isn't bad but not great either, and while the punk ambient is well rended by the art, it's a bit too weak to support the comparison on the long run or to support the TL.

I'm sorry, I disagree with your judgement. This was terrible. The art was nice, but nothing else enticed me. In continuing with America the Terrible theme this series lobs whenever it can, every American soldier here is a psycho or a junkie, or both. It becomes really tiresome and distracting.

11. Tuileries' Night
1795 : 4 years after king's death, armies of Marie-Antoinette are coming to Paris.

Since the spectacular evasion of the royal family, France is ravaged, prey to civil war. Marie-Antoinette, kingdom's regent since the death of Louis XVI, manages to form a fearsome army, led by a mysterious general. Royal army is now at Paris' gates.
In order to prevent a final bloodbath, Danton thinks of a desesperate plan...

[0,5/5]
This is simply not working. The story as the TL are weak, the carachterisation is cliched and the art not really great.
Eventually, this book doesn't have much to get supported on.

Yeah, this is was no good as AH, but the art was decent and although the characters were cliches, at least their good guy-to-bad guy and bad guy-to-good guy turns made sense. Also, any time I get to learn more about the French Revolution by being forced to look up a name on wikipedia is a good thing. Assassin's Creed Unity it wasn't, but meh. I've read much worse in this series.

13. Omega ("Omega France" 1/3)

1942 : The suspicious death of an Aérospatiale hero makes the ashes of Hundered Years War burning anew.

Since eight years, after the coup of far-right leagues the 6 Febuary 1934, France ceased to be a republic and have but one opponent, the only subsisting european democracy : the United Kingdom. Europe is on the edge. Death of the captain Antoine de Saint-Exupéry above the Channel may be the spark that would spread fire.

[4,5/5]
Have an hard time to begin, but when it does it's particularily good. It takes all its taste when read with the others part of the arc, a bit less interesting on its own. Tough, it shouldn't be missed as both the plot and charaters are interesting, and if a bit weird sometimes the TL gets back enough times on its own feet to spice it all.

This is clearly the showpiece of the series and as the start of the trilogy it's serviceable. I found it interesting that it doesn't start with the far right coup and then tells the story, but that it picks up the pieces years after and shows the consequences for everyone of it. There was a bit of confusion on my side, perhaps due to the translation, of the exact nature of the relationship of the hero pilot to the smart set he meets in Paris. It seems he was already involved in the anti-Omega group prior to his discovery of what Omega did to his friend, but at the same time acts shocked when the degree of Omega fascism is shown to him. But it is a nice start to the trilogy.

16. The White Star
17th April 1912 : the Titanic arrive in New York from Southampton without any trouble at the end of its first trip.

1912, inaugural trip of Titanic. On board, Maxim Waterson, a young gentleman from England going to the United States. Twenty years later, the liner is shipwreck.
With the boat disappear managers of the Nazi Parti, including the already famous Adolf Hitler. In the same time, in America, the Waterson media empire's ascencion continue and influence more and more global politics.

[1/5]
And that's essentially thanks to the art. That just doesn't make sense from start to the end, and the "The world shall know of our paceful ways...BY FORCE" is definitely over-the-top.

Oh man, this one was a head-scratcher. The author did his research on who was on the Titanic, but then... to wit, one special little boy spots the iceberg and alerts people. Titanic is saved and as a result a Citizen Kane like figure rises to dominate the world. No, seriously. The lowlight was Albert Einstein and Hitler sharing another Titanic journey that this time hits an iceberg (!) and ends badly for everyone involved. Featuring a clean shaven Himmler without glasses in a trenchcoat with a fedora. Why? Why not!

17. Napoleon Washington
1799 : The adoptive son of the Founding Father of the American nation, go on quest to Eldorado

Carlo Maria Bounaparte, victim of corsican vendettas, decide to leave for Americas. In the New World, he engages himself on the side of american rebels et befriends the most famous of them, Washington. Before dying on battlefield, he makes the father of american nation to became as well one for his son...

[3,5/5]
Quite good, even if beggining really weirdly. If you expected some book on grandiose conquest and Napoleon pulling a Napoleon...You'd be surprised, in good.
The story is actually quite interesting, and (thanksfully) keeps it relatively intimate : Napoleon as a modern conquistador is an interesting takes and the book makes most of the characterisation. Eventually the lack of sense of closure it holds and the somehow divided story are its main problems.

Ooh, I wanna read this one, too.

18. Operation Charlemagne (Omega France 2/3)
1943 : French Forces strikes at the hearth of Perfidious Albion.

1943, France and Britain are now at war. A small legion of french volunteers decided to join London to fight Laval's fascist regime. They doesn't know yet that a deadly menace is on the city...The french government is working on rocket launching. Would the french resistant networks be able to stop Operation Charlemagne in time?

[4/5] The second opus of Omega arc is a good one, and if all the good points of "Omega" being polished, all of the negative (somehow artificial discussion popping up, too much reference for the sake of reference) are too.
Now, let's be clear, it's still one of the best of the series, and the plot is really good in this one. If you liked the first, you can go safely on this one : charachters are believable, backround as well.

This one was decent. Still had reservations about the timeline, but they were consistent and believable once you got this book.

21. Dawn of the damned (Omega 3/3)
1943 : Fascist French aviation fights its last as Allies are landing

1943. As last prototypes of jet planes built by France can't oppose anglo-american flying armada, Léo uses the general disorder to hunt commissaire Lafont. Simone de Beauvoir and Louis-Ferdinand Céline takes the exile road, hoping to cross the border and find a shelted on Franco's Spain...

[5/5] I'm probably going against general feel on this one, but I think it's one of the best of the series. All the book is about giving a sense of closure to the arc, and it works perfectly. The plot, the characters, the TL all are building a great ambience.

As closure, it works. And the art is nice.

 

[Yorel]

Flaming bag of horse poop. The art is, however, nice. And if you want to read a hot-take on the evils of Amerikkka, this is the comic. Racist terrible cops just chomping at the chain with Nixon finally letting them off the leash. Heroic Jane Fonda fleeing fascist America for the shores of politically sophisticated France. The only two remotely good guys in the story are Frenchmen. Oh yeah. This is the stuff knee-jerk dreams are made of.

That tome was basically an anti-Nixon caricature through and through. The problem is that heavily politically-charged pieces are generally not very good, even when they're directed towards someone as despised as Nixon. In fact, that might actually worsen the thing.

Yeah, this is was no good as AH, but the art was decent and although the characters were cliches, at least their good guy-to-bad guy and bad guy-to-good guy turns made sense. Also, any time I get to learn more about the French Revolution by being forced to look up a name on wikipedia is a good thing. Assassin's Creed Unity it wasn't, but meh. I've read much worse in this series.

Personally, what I remember from that tome is that it was an annoying and nearly unbearable cliché-fest. Louis XVI was yet again a gentle buffoon even if they were kind enough to kill him early on, Marie-Antoinette is back to her seductive bitch caricature, Louis XVII is mentionned as probably being the result of an affair between his mother and Fersen, the Revolutionnaries are bloody caricatural, they bring Napoleon to the royalist side thanks to Marie-Antoinette, etc... Really, this thing is just predictable and annoying from start to finish.

Also, comparing it to Assassin's Creed Unity from my POV isn't necessarily a good point. Sure, there probably a lot more historical research done but there are still mistakes here and there and I personnally think the story quality of Assassin's Creed declined after they released Assassin's Creed II: Brotherhood.

Oh man, this one was a head-scratcher. The author did his research on who was on the Titanic, but then... to wit, one special little boy spots the iceberg and alerts people. Titanic is saved and as a result a Citizen Kane like figure rises to dominate the world. No, seriously. The lowlight was Albert Einstein and Hitler sharing another Titanic journey that this time hits an iceberg (!) and ends badly for everyone involved. Featuring a clean shaven Himmler without glasses in a trenchcoat with a fedora. Why? Why not!

What I found especially annoying about this is that they avoid the Titanic sinking in 1912 only to sink the ship twenty years later... That was just so predictable and cliché. Seriously, why do people always feel the Titanic had to sink at one point? One of his sister-ships, the Olympic, continued his career as a cruise liner up to 1935... Add Hitler and Einstein being killed in the sinking and you get bonus points for cliché and unoriginal. Also, bonus points for making the main character an unlikable asshole.

 

[Thomas27]

I think they're all fictional, given that none fit into real roles.

For example, the Mustache Man from State Department would either be:
G. Gordon Liddy - a Nixon lacky and an owner of a mustache, but he had nothing to do with State department and even in this timeline would have been nothing but a guy who gets a cup of coffee for someone more important than him. Even in the land of lackeys, Liddy is the guy stuck in the broom closet, not planning World War 3.
Dean Acheson. He has a mustache and he was in the State Department. But this makes no sense politically, as he was a hardwired Democrat. There was no way he'd work for Nixon, or talk about the voters in such a way. However, he was accused of neglecting Asia in favor of Europe, so his disregarding China would be in (extreme) character.
The character, however, should be William P. Rogers, a non-entity put in place by Nixon to replace Kissinger at State. No mustache.

Bowtie Glasses Man is either supposed to be, based on his comments and actions:
John N. Mitchell - Nixon's Attorney General, who resigned when it got too hot. I read the comic, so his turn would be in keeping with what happens here, but he never had glasses or wore a bow tie.
John Ehrlichman - Nixon's right hand man and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs. Facially, it could be him. Then again the art is pretty unfocused in this comic, as J. Edgar Hoover looks nothing like J. Edgar Hoover earlier in the comic. Ehrlichman doesn't quite work because he never wore a bow tie or had glasses, but it'd make sense for this character to be him based on how he reacts to the actions in the comic.
Bowtie and glasses in this era however meant Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but he's a Democrat, like Dean. He wouldn't work for Nixon.

None of the military men resemble anyone I'd know. The receding hairline and attitude of the man in the last panel could be that of General Westmoreland - who in our timeline is the man who lost Vietnam. But the character wears an air force uniform. The Frank Miller smudged art style face of the man next to him is hard to decipher, but that man is wearing an army uniform, however. So if anyone was Westmoreland in that panel it'd be him.

I am guessing the artist just drew repulsive characters in general, without consulting bios or Google Images.

Thanks you for your help sir.

 

[Greg Grant]

Still, it's still vastly superior to WW 2.2 that I finished recently, and that save the first and fifth one, is increasingly bad and without any real coherence.

Oh sweet suffering C.M. Punk, you're not kidding about this one. The first book seems to have been written by a French fella very determined to prove that France suffered during WW2 and did fight, so he decided to make the Western Front in 1940 into a meat grinder with heroic Frenchmen dying by the bucketful, due to Hitler being assassinated by a bomb by Johann George Esler in November, 1939 and the German Army not being properly motivated and stuff, oh and something about a fog. This is unfortunate for a variety of reasons. First, it lends credence to the theory that Hitler was a military leader of some skill and not a political leader who inserted himself into military campaigns by the nature of his position and made a mess of things for his generals. Yes, it is possible that the German war machine would have been more careful about attacking France and may have not tried to move as fast, but the plan for attack, including the speed factor was developed by von Manstein. How much Hitler had to do with promoting this theory is a matter for debate, but still, to a layman the take away from the comic seems that without Hitler to lead them, the Germans plumb dumb got stuck and let themselves be tricked and driven back by the crafty ruthless Brits and brave French soldiers. Second strangeness, if the entire goal was to show the French were willing to fight, then why have to have Hitler die and have a weather intervention just to show this?

Anyway, after a rather confusing first volume with admittedly nice art, things get weird and I mean weird. The second volume features a largely allohistorical attack on Gibraltar by the Brandenburg Commandos, SS troops led by an evil SS-Major with glowing red eyes (no, really, his eyes literally glow like a comic book vampire under his peaked hat), regular German infantry and light mountain infantry (the ones with Edelweiss on their sleeves to show their leet status). The lead, uh, hero of the story is a dedicated young Nazi and officer of the mountain infantry who will scale the Rock and take out the Brits, but not before bonding with an ex-priest now officer of the Spanish Foreign Legion. Turns out the sturdy young Nazi (to borrow a phrase from dear old Daily Mail) is here on a secret mission to figure out which of the people involved in the assault is a British sympathizing traitor. It seems Hess - he who went crazy in OTL and flew to Britain to sign a peace treaty with them - is being all sneaky and Brit-loving in TTL as well. And our, uh, hero must uncover it. Things get crazy, everyone betrays everyone and lots of people die, oh and spoiler, the hero turns out be an utter shit for a variety of reasons, some very batshit insane.

The third volume features a triple-double-super-secret-cross as Winston Churchill struggles to get the Soviet Union on his side (they are technically still allies of the Nazis, though there is wariness there). Much spy stuff as written by a 14 year old boy who just read Le Carre results. Featuring a guest appearance by Lawrence of Arabia. He wasn't dead. He was just resting. And now is ready to help Britain against the Nazis, but not by much.

Then fit hits the shan in volume four, Sea Lion works. Yes. Only the Nazis gets bogged down at Blackpool, England. But enter the Soviet Union on Nazi side. All this was done, however, just so that Soviet sniper Zaitsev can appear in Blackpool to kill British officers, the German officer from Enemy at the Gates can appear to be on his side, but not really, and the too stupid to live evil Americans can try to kill Zaitsev and fail because they're too stupid, you see. You know you're in for some hurting when an American character in a French comic tells a non-American that he's here to win the war the American way. You just wonder, will he be killed in the most painful way possible, or the most humiliating? Or both? And will he turn on his allies and disregard civilian lives of the locals. Check, and check, and check oh and totally check.

This is where I stopped reading, because really, life is too short for terrible anti-American French fan fiction.

 

[Yorel]

The 26th tome is out. It's called Le Bal des Pendus (The Ball of the Hanged Ones I guess?).

As usual, I only skimmed through it as I'm not a reader of Jour J and just check it from time to time when I stumble upon it. The story seems... very strange though. The POD is apparently linked to a more virulent Black Plague affecting Europe... But this is barely explored or explained in the tome. Apparently, Mali has become extremely powerful nation and it's sending an ambassador to one of the European countries. There is apparently a civil war in France opposing what seems to be an ATL Louis XI and OTL Charles the Bold. It also seems that there were religious consequences as the tome takes place in alternate 1473 that is also referred as the year 123 of the new alliance and it's implied Christiannity has either evolved or been destroyed... Oh, and you get Condotierre Jeanne d'Arc somewhere along this.

I'm probably not a reliable critic on this... But, man does it feel like a mess...

 

[LSCatilina]

Heh, the Mongols in Europe trilogy is a mess as well, and did worked out somehow, still. I'll give it a look.

 

[Michel Van]

The 26th tome is out. It's called Le Bal des Pendus (The Ball of the Hanged Ones I guess?).

As usual, I only skimmed through it as I'm not a reader of Jour J and just check it from time to time when I stumble upon it. The story seems... very strange though....

I'm probably not a reliable critic on this... But, man does it feel like a mess...

I read a four page sample on Delcourt Hompage about Jour J26

France is ravage and Bleeding Out after more murderous Black Death hit Europe hundert years ago !
and suffer civil war between Louis XI and Charles de Bourgogne over the Kingship over France
Christianity has fallen during more murderous Black Death, the church got even blame for this !
still after hundert years there are still small Christian group hiding in ruins of cathedral, Churches, monasteries.

in story, the ambassador of Mali travel to Paris for voting a new King to end this Civil war
for the dangerous travel from south france to Paris, he hires for his protection a group of mercenaries, there leader Jeanne d'Arc

 

[SGallay]

Seems like Le Bal des Pendus is the first one of a series of at least two, maybe more.

Unclear what the POD is, but it seems like there was an alliance between France and African kingdoms. The "Jeanne" in the story is clearly indicated as not being Joan of Ark in a introductory note.

I've had a quick read and since the historical setup seems to be a mess, with a "Green God" heresy sweeping through the plague-ridden cities countryside and political fight between France and Burgundy, but the story is interesting.

The title is a reference to a famous poem by François Villon.

 

[Michel Van]

Delcourt announced volume 27 of Jour J for March 2017

Les ombres de Constantinople (Shadow of Constantinople)
1453: Vlad Tepes called "the Impaler" defends Byzantine

No cover here because, that will be a candidate for AH-forum infamous "“Vlad Tepes Cruelty Award”
and rest of Comic book will certain win this price....

 

[Yorel]

The 27th Tome, Les Ombres de Constantinople (The Shadows of Constantinople) is out.

It seems to work in the same way that Notre Dame de Londres (Our Lady of London) did: namely that it doesn't start after a POD but rather details how the divergence happens. The main character of the tome is the Christian Albanian-born Iskander who was taken to become a janissary after the Ottomans raided his village. While there, he meets Vlad the Impaler back when he was still a Turkish hostage. Later on, when they're both adults, they meet again and end up as travelling companions while the events of the story unfolds. Which as the subtitle of the tome implies is basically them becoming involved in Constantinople's defense. The tome basically ends with the siege ending in a Christian victory though I won't spoil how it's achieved: while the outcome of the siege is predictable from the beginning (Why have Vald defend Constantinople if he's going to lose?), the way it ends isn't.

The tome also ends on cliffhanger and mentions it's only the first in a series if I remember right... So Vlad and Iskander's adventure likely won't just end there. I guess they're basically doing what they did with the Omega trilogy and the two tomes with the Mongols. But I'm not sure it's a good idea... Yeah, I know, I'm biased against this series in general but this is a tome that features Vlad the Impaler whose basically as insane and violent as he is made to be. That's not a character I want to see more about.

 

[Michel Van]

volume 28 is announce Jour J 28. L'aigle et le cobra for may 2017

The Eagle and the Cobra
Threatened by an Egyptian army led by Antoine and Cleopatra, Rome sent Brutus to convince Julius Caesar to go to the invaders to negotiate.
Caesar, now blind and withdrawn from the affairs of the world, accepts without ignoring that Rome remains in the hands of Pompey, his eternal rival,
and that he will probably have to face all the treacheries, including those of his most intimate allies...

http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/serie/jour-j-28-l-aigle-et-le-cobra.html

 

[Yorel]

Given the first few pages that you can read on Delcourt's website, this tome is apparently the sequel to Republic of Slaves.

Spoiler

Which explains why Caesar is blind as that tome ended with him being blinded by having his eyes buned by the sun via the use of a giant mirror.

For those wondering how we got there: basically Republic of Slaves was centered on Spartacus escaping capture because the Pirates he paid to escape didn't betray him to the Romans: the POD involved a captain that had faced Caesar during his campaign against the Pirates and refusing the gold and killing the roman envoyes because the mentionned Caesar. From there, Spartacus' army took over Sicily and established their own Republic. Years later, Caesar and Crassus led an attack on Sicily to reclaim it from Spartacus. There was a big battle in Syracuse, where Spartacus' army basically used Age of Empire's Mirror Towers (based on the legend that Archimedes used Giant Mirror to set fire on Roman Ships during the 212 BC Siege of Syracuse) to defend themselves. The romans won, Spartacus and his men were crucified but he got the last laugh on Caesar as two people (Spartacus' children I think but I'm not sure) used a mirror and reflected the sun directly on Caesar's eyes, blinding him.

N.B.: I don't guarantee this summary to be completely accurate: my memory of that tome is pretty foggy. Plus, I'm more of an occasionnal reader of Jour J and I follow it more out of curiosity than because I like it...

Apparently, the fact that Caesar became blind forced him into an early retirement from Roman politics, which in turn allowed Pompey to take control of power in Rome. Interesting, but I'm wondering how all of that can lead up to Egypt invading Rome... Or how Mark Anthony can be on Cleopatra's side. Butterflies I know, but this seems a bit like a stretch...

Also, I have the impression that Jour J is doing more sequels of late. Stupor Mundi was a sequel to Steppe Empire, Le Bal des Pendus and Les Ombres de Constantinople have sequels planned and now we're getting a sequel to Republic of Slaves... I don't mind sequels that much but wasn't the original idea to do only one-shot scenarios? The only exceptions we had before that point were the Red September-Black October two parter and the Omega Trilogy. But now, it seems that each new tome coming out is either the first in a cycle of the sequel of a previous one...

 

[Michel Van]

Given the first few pages that you can read on Delcourt's website, this tome is apparently the sequel to Republic of Slaves.
Also, I have the impression that Jour J is doing more sequels of late. Stupor Mundi was a sequel to Steppe Empire, Le Bal des Pendus and Les Ombres de Constantinople have sequels planned and now we're getting a sequel to Republic of Slaves... I don't mind sequels that much but wasn't the original idea to do only one-shot scenarios? The only exceptions we had before that point were the Red September-Black October two parter and the Omega Trilogy. But now, it seems that each new tome coming out is either the first in a cycle of the sequel of a previous one...

So far i know they planned multi parts in begin like the Red September-Black October (were German Empire wins WW1) but, there a big but !
For Multiparts episodes for Jour J, the first Volume must be a commercial success, otherwise it remain a one Shot episode

oh by the way,
J26 Le Bal des Pendus (The Ball of the Hanged Ones) was commercial successful and it get a sequel J29 Le Dieu Vert (The Green God) for replace date July 2017
after black Death almost annihilate Europe population, Has Mali the chance to become a Superpower in this TL ?

also is the Serie Translate into German "TAG X" five volumes
and Netherlands "Uur U" nine volumes

 

[SGallay]

Also, I have the impression that Jour J is doing more sequels of late. Stupor Mundi was a sequel to Steppe Empire, Le Bal des Pendus and Les Ombres de Constantinople have sequels planned and now we're getting a sequel to Republic of Slaves...

It may have been the original goal, but the fact that it was one-shots was, in my opinion, one of the main issues of the series: there is only so much development you can put into 64 pages of comics that covers the alternate timeline, its POD and an actual story worth reading.

 

[Yorel]

It may have been the original goal, but the fact that it was one-shots was, in my opinion, one of the main issues of the series: there is only so much development you can put into 64 pages of comics that covers the alternate timeline, its POD and an actual story worth reading.

While I won't deny this argument, I will still say that the way they're going about it is still strange and appears to be a bit random. Red September/Black October is the only time in the series where the sequel story came out immediately after its first tome. Even the Omega trilogy was kinda randomly published as there were a few tomes of one-shot stories in-between each issue. And now this.

Not saying this is a bad idea or that it's impossible to follow but it's not regular and I don't really understand how they chose the order of their publications.

 

[Michel Van]

Not saying this is a bad idea or that it's impossible to follow but it's not regular and I don't really understand how they chose the order of their publications.

To tell the truth: IT'S COLLECTOR NIGHTMARE TO ARRANGE "JOUR J" SERIES IN BOOKCASE ! ! !

I will still say that the way they're going about it is still strange and appears to be a bit random

To blame is way how Comics are made in France
On one side you have Creative Genius like Duval & Pécau and there artist, on other side is Publisher Delcout who want make money, allot of Money !
normally it take up to two years until a comic like that is made and print, then it take several months unfit receipts comme in and if they are lucky a order for reprint
Most publisher use the "Rule of Three" if first edition is a success they give ok for two other volumes goes ahead, if after volume three, six or nine sales decline it's Game over
And Delcorut is notorious in shot down a series after issue one if sales are disappointing

This was one of reason, why Jour J Volume one & two were one shots and volume 3 a Two part story to get 2 additional Volumes to print
and with success of first six Volume the series Survived
Duval & Pécau went a step further they publish FOUR Volumes a year means Four artist work synchronous on there comic book for Jour J
and if one Volume is a bestseller it get sequel but that take time in waiting list
see Volume 14 that got second part with Volume 18, four issue later or Volume 23 sequel in volume 28

 

[SGallay]

Not saying this is a bad idea or that it's impossible to follow but it's not regular and I don't really understand how they chose the order of their publications.

My guess is that they try to maintain a fairly regular publication schedule for the whole series (say, a book every 3-4 months), but comic books take about one year of production, gove or take. So they have to space it; they probably don't have tons of backlog.

EDIT: Michel Van got there before I did, with more details.